Dia de los Locos, indeed!

Well, la fiesta de los locos did NOT disappoint. We headed into town early, per the advice of our host family. The parade was supposed to start at 12, so we got there around 11:20… and stood around, watching the streets become lined with other spectators. But 12 came and went, with no indication that the parade would begin in the foreseeable future. Our friend Kip from the Lion’s Club called us while we waited and invited us to stop by his place, grab some ladders, and watch the parade from his street. So we did just that. We placed a small ladder, a larger ladder, and a good-sized step-stool behind the crowd and had an optimal view of the parade – as well as prime positioning for candy to be chucked at us.

It was also as entertaining to watch the people watching the parade – some had umbrellas tipped upside down:  the better to catch candy with, of course.  While we watched the diverse array of costumed people dance their way down the street and collected Mexican dulces, we came to the conclusion that it was sort of a reverse Halloween. We were stationary, while those in costumes came around giving the candy to US. You may know that my hand-eye coordination is limited at best – well, it is MUCH more limited while I am on a ladder, so I myself did not catch too many candies. However, we used my sun hat as a catcher’s mitt and my classmates were much more adept at catching than I was. Lauren even managed to catch a candy that landed up her sleeve.

The types of costumes could best be described as, “Anything goes!” but there were a few groups of people associated with floats that had themes. The Simpsons are wildly popular here in Mexico, so there was a whole slew of Barts, Lisas, Homers, and Marges boogieing by. An Avatar group was pretty impressive with their blue costumes and foliage-covered float. Looney tunes, Disney, Wizard of Oz were all represented. Interestingly, there was a whole group of people dressed like Jim Carey in “The Mask” – yes, while it was a popular film in the states circa 1994, it is apparently still a popular topic of discussion in Mexico.

Our original plan was to have dinner with Kip and his wife, Marge Ann, that evening. But once we had had enough of the locos, we returned our ladders to them and just began our evening with them earlier than anticipated, to everyone’s delight. They have been so warm, welcoming, and helpful during our time here in SMA, and we enjoyed homemade guacamole, Kip’s very strong margaritas, lots of conversation, delicious spaghetti and salad, and the warm SMA evening air. We are not sure how we have been so fortunate to meet so many kind and wonderful people during our time here engaged in various activities in SMA, but they have made our trip that much better.

Today was back to reality, however – we ventured out to Cerranitos, a town much larger than we were accustomed to visiting, and one that was literally right off of the main road. Their need for health services was not as great as it had been in other communities, due to their relatively close proximity to San Miguel, but we did have plenty to do there, all the same. Tonight we enjoyed the sounds, smells, and lights of a thunderstorm outside that brought a significant amount of rain – good news for the region as they are currently two years deep into a severe drought. We also enjoyed the thunderstorm and the rain it brought INSIDE – there just so happens to be a small hole in our roof, so that was pretty fun to discover. Tomorrow we are planning on helping out with the DIF’s big health fair – still pretty unsure about what that will entail, but excited to see the different branches of the DIF in full force in the community.